Archives For Habit Based Nutrition Coaching

In this blog post I am going to talk to you about creating a habit based approach to achieving your desired outcome, when it comes to your fitness and nutrition, to sustain a healthy lifestyle. If you are stuck and not sure what to do, or tried various other things just to put weight back on and a little more, not sure where to start or simply had enough and ready to make changes with your health and fitness, then this is for you.

Many people come to me asking for guidance with what to eat, how to get in shape, I am stuck what should I do, where do I start….and many other questions.

It is all very confusing with what you should do and what you shouldn’t do, what you should eat and what you should not eat, what exercises you should do and which one’s are the best.

When it comes to your health, fitness and nutrition, creating daily, weekly, bi-weekly, behavior changes and cultivating habits to achieve your desired outcome will get you to your monthly, quarterly, 6 month and yearly goals.

But, WHAT do you need to create the behavior changes and habits?

Let’s start with something very simple.

Create time for yourself.

Deep down within you, you know you want to make the changes. You know you need to get in better shape to keep up with the kids, because the doctor said so, or because you can’t fit into some of your clothes.

I know…shitty feeling isn’t it!

Now let’s get past that and onto the new you.

Nobody is going to give you time, you have to create that time for yourself.

How to create time and make it a habit?

Decide how much time you can realistically commit to spend doing some exercises and eating better. This could be as simple as 15 minutes or as long as you can consistently commit to doing so on a weekly basis.

Add it to you calendar. Set a reminder to your phone. Block it out on your calendar. If you are not a morning person, avoid setting a workout in the morning. Set times that you know you can COMMIT to.

Stick to your appointment with yourself. Things are going to come up no doubt. The same way you will get to that doctor’s appointment you have scheduled, do the same for yourself.

Put yourself in control of your time. We can’t get back time, but we can control what we do with our time.

Now that you have created some time, what is your next step?

Know what you want, know why you want it and know how you are going to get it.

Firstly, you got to know what you want to achieve. Take a moment to write down what it is that you truly want to accomplish with your health and fitness.

What to do next?

Set an outcome goal: The main outcome or objective you would like to accomplish. The desired outcome. The long term goal.

Example: I want to lose X pounds, by Y date…

Next….

Set behavior goals: The steps you have to take to achieve your outcome. Activities you have to complete on a daily basis, that will get you closer to the desired outcome.

Example: I will exercise at least 5 hours per week. I will drink half my body weight in ounces of water each day. I will eat till 80% full. I will only eat out once per week. I will eat protein at each meal….

Next you got to know why you want to achieve your desired outcome.

Ask yourself why you want to achieve what you want to achieve. Go deep here and truly find that real authentic, genuine reason why you want to accomplish your goal.

Keep asking yourself “why” at least 5 times.

This is very powerful and I highly recommend that you dig deep here.

You got this!!!

Lastly, have a plan of massive action. Check your behavior goals for your plan of action. Take a moment each day to go over these behavior goals. Keep these at the forefront of your thoughts as by taking these steps each day it will get you closer to your desired outcome. It will also create the habits needed for success.

Find a routine in your day and week.

Many success people have a routine for their day from the time they get up, to the time they go to bed. Set your day up so you know what is going on. What time are you going to work out? What time are your meals? What day you are going to meal prep? What have you got coming up for that week with travels, meetings, kids activities?

Plan your week in advance.

How to plan your week in advance?

Take one day for the week, (eg. Sunday) to plan your meals for the week.

Make a grocery list for what is needed for your meals.

Bulk prepare food items and store as needed.

Schedule your workout times into your diary.

Have ‘go to’ emergency healthy snacks with you at ALL times just in case you get stuck in meetings or traffic of something comes up.

Know your work schedule and commitments and work around them so that you avoid missing your workouts.

Set yourself up for success by knowing your and planning your week.

Stick to the plan.

Life is going to get in the way at some point. This is no reason for you to fall off and give up on all the hard work you have already done. If this happens, dust yourself off and pick yourself up and go again. Avoid beating yourself up. This is all part of creating healthy, sustainable habits to live a healthier lifestyle.

The plan can also be adapted as things come up. Stick to the habits you have created for yourself. Do the little things on daily, weekly monthly basis. Reward yourself for the small victories and also the big ones.

In concluding….

You will have ups and down. Good days and not so good days. This is going to take time to create, but once you develop these habits, it will set you up for long term success with attaining your desired outcome.

Start small and build on your foundation. Let each habit build on the last one. Aim to improve 1% each day and over the course of a year you will transform your health and fitness and live healthier lifestyle.

Want guidance and support to finally getting the healthy body, and feeling more energized to unleash your true potential to be your ultimate best?

I will be opening up my online habit based nutrition & fitness coaching program very soon!

About Gavin

Gavin De Souza is a Certified Precision Nutrition Coach and Fitness Professional.

He has worked in several training facilities in the UK and US, specializing in Personal Training, Nutrition, Body Transformation, as well as Youth Fitness Development and Sport Specific preparation.

Gavin has been involved in the Fitness Industry since 2002.

In addition, Gavin focuses on helping to serve, mentor, inspire, lead and empower busy, successful, professionals, to find balance in their lives, so that they can unleash their true potential, to LOOK, FEEL and PERFORM at their ultimate best in sport and life.